Winners emerge from 2016 World Pneumonia Day Video Challenge

Nigeria joined other countries to celebrate World Pneumonia Day 2016 through a symposium that demonstrated the country’s commitment to fighting the silent disease. Organized by the Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA), the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), Direct Consulting and Logistics (DCL Nigeria) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the event which took place on November 14, 2016 was tagged ‘The Road to Ending Pneumonia in Nigeria.’

During the symposium, a pneumonia video challenge was launched as part of efforts to raise public awareness and active participation in the protect, prevent and treat campaign through the use of social media. Attendees at the symposium lauded the contest as an important method of engaging social interest in the fight against pneumonia.

The video contest which ran from November 14 to December 31, 2016 received entries from different states in the country. The videos were assessed by independent judges who are seasoned specialists in the fields of health communication and videography. They assessed the entries using a number of criteria including accuracy of pneumonia information, creativity and originality, and video quality. Almost 60% of the videos showed a good awareness of pneumonia, which indicates that more people are getting better informed about the disease. However, this also indicates that awareness creation is still needed in efforts towards pneumonia prevention. In addition, all videos showcased a mix of actual persons, story-telling, animations and graphics displays.

After careful judging and assessment, the top three winning videos went to Olemabu MacNelson Mbee for first prize, Terver Malu for second prize, and Joshua Oluchukwu Lawrence for third prize. The winning videos made use of great story-telling, in addition to unique displays of creativity, including graphics, humour and real-life connections. The winners have been announced on DCL Twitter handle.

The organizers have determined that the winning videos will be used during the 2017 World Pneumonia Day activities, as well as for any other promotional campaigns on pneumonia throughout the year 2017.